Code of Practice for the publishing of information on the LSE World Wide Web Server

Preamble

This Code of Practice governs the publishing of information on the LSE Web Server. Any member of the School who is in a position to create their own web pages or publish electronic documents, is bound by this code. The School computing facilities should only be used for bona fide educational use, in accordance with the Conditions of Use of IT facilities at the LSE. The Internet Publications Officer referred to in the Code is authorised to make judgements about the appropriateness of material and to ask the School authorities to enforce the Code of Practice.

Requirements

Only publish on the internet what is appropriate for publishing in another medium.

The School is committed to the principle of freedom of expression within the law, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, as exemplified in the Code of Practice on Free Speech. There are legal constraints (see The legal framework). You must bear relevant School policies, and the law, in mind. Take care not to break the law or cause offence (see Offensive material). The Internet Publications Officer may advise but, if in doubt, leave it out.

Any set of web pages using School resources must provide a link to the LSE home page and must clearly state the Department responsible, the name of the originator/compiler and the date on which it was last updated. Any information on courses, which may be taken as legally binding documents, must be linked to the authoritative School version with a clear disclaimer. Any misleading information may result in financial repercussions.

Web pages must be reviewed and updated and you must ensure, as far as possible, that the information given is current and correct. Whilst accepting that you have no control over the currency of information to which links have been created, you should, nonetheless, make a reasonable effort to remove or amend those which are no longer of use or are deemed inappropriate to the LSE.

No material should be reproduced on the internet without seeking and, where necessary, obtaining the permission of the copyright owner.

It should be noted that while publishing online information offers enormous advantages, the same care in management of the data needs to be exercised, as is the case with conventional publishing. This includes care in writing and proofing and high standards of layout, following the School guidelines where appropriate. In particular the Press Office must be consulted over any proposed use of the School logo.

Staff or students who publish information relating to, or on behalf of, the School, or which may reasonably appear to be on behalf of the School, should ensure that they have obtained the requisite permission to do so, and that the information has been approved at least in principle by the appropriate department head.

Failure to observe the requirements of this code

Failure to observe these requirements, by students or staff, will be considered a serious matter by the School. The Internet Publications Officer shall have the power to remove links to web pages that are persistently out of date or considered in breach of these guidelines and after warning has been given to the 'owner' of the document . You may be asked to remove any such pages whether links have been established or not.

The terms and conditions of employment for staff (published on the Human Resources web pages) and the Disciplinary regulations for students provide for disciplinary action on grounds of various forms of misconduct. A wilful disregard of these guidelines may lead to the invocation of such procedures.